Next time when you come across someone who is strangely dressed, try and observe the elements on him or her that is creating unrest in you. Reason why. You will notice that the unrest is in you and not in your subject. Like the taste buds in our tongues, we have developed tastes with us over many facets of life and expect the world around to conform to our taste-buds. Please nip it in the bud – for your own good.
Analysing further, from the time immemorial, society has a 80:20 ratio (just taken pareto since I have not reached real numbers yet) on conformists and non-conformists. Conformists are the safety mongers in the society who form the vast majority and want to follow the masses always. Non-conformists think themselves as the social scientists or path-breakers or trend-setters or creators. This need not be true always.
But, but, here comes the bitter pill. Each and every society at every period needs non-conformists for its own betterment. Obviously, there are big costs attached to them. Moderates and extremists are in other words Conformists and Non-Conformists. Extremists are the designers of a new future, depending on the philosophy and following that evolves through. Any revolution would need extremists to induce change and then it is the moderates who are required to follow such change, afterwards.
Discussions with an old friend recently, went through the freedom struggle for Indian Independence and the efforts on the part of two different approaches for the same goal, Indian independence. On the one hand, the armed extremism was a minority – the 20 factor. The other came with Gandhiji atop, moderates forming the 80 factor. The British have no regrets whatsoever, as the moderates assured their safe transit to their motherland. Relating to this historical event now might sound irrelevant – but the context is still alive and highlights the Conformist-Non Conformist factors. The very recent Tolerance/Intolerance debates on Aamir as well as Kanhaiya is proof to this.
The underlying current of non-conformity consolidates itself, periodically and at varying intensities to culminate into outbursts in the society. Need not be good always – bad neither. Maoists in our insides is also a form of consolidation of such non-conformists to the law-of-the-land, under a pretext of social inequality. Ironically, even amongst them, they do have protocols and hierarchies – but for the world they propagate equality – namesakes. They maintain all of these in the name of their ‘movement’.
You will always find a 20-factor team in any gathering, who will resist anything and everything. These so called rebels, can at times be productive in creating a new beginning by striking a chord with the right mind. Inventors, designers, stylists, writers, musicians, photographers, artists and anybody in creative businesses are also non-conformists. This will establish that non-conformists need not be carrying guns always. While conformists may get constrained by communal, racists and nationalist barriers, non-conformists do not conform to any such boundaries. This is one strong reason that the non-conformists flourish to greater sizes and at a faster pace. Moderates are less-eventful and so the news-makers are mostly from the non-conformists. Democracy is not a conformists club like the popular thought. This is proven by the growing number of political parties and forums.
So, when you come across a non-conformist the next time, see that you accept the person faster. As much as we need conformists in our society, we do need non-conformists to question everything.
You don’t have to agree with me !
